{"id":1230082,"date":"2018-04-18T12:26:33","date_gmt":"2018-04-18T16:26:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/?p=1230082"},"modified":"2018-04-19T12:46:00","modified_gmt":"2018-04-19T16:46:00","slug":"the-xiles-no-comply","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/2018\/04\/18\/the-xiles-no-comply\/","title":{"rendered":"The Xiles: ‘No Comply’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Here\u2019s a hell of a tour: The take-no-prisoners, out-of-flips-to-give aesthetic of Baltimore\u2019s Santa Librada, whose debut LP was featured here only a handful of weeks ago, and Frederick\u2019s own The Xiles, a deliciously snotty teenage punk rock quartet that actually will remind you why The Clash kicked so much ass when they first started out. Grab the combat boots, slip into those black jeans and get ready to sweat. If this anarchist\u2019s dream tour ever came true, it\u2019d leave cities burning one sneer at a time.<\/p>\n

Naturally, this is why The Xiles\u2019s debut EP, \u201cNo Comply,\u201d is so irresistible. Rarely these days does punk rock connect in the way it was always meant to: Youthful angst and ignorance combining with a kind of self-loathing confidence that provides the necessary aggression and authenticity needed to make the music so imperative. It\u2019s novel in its simplicity, its straight-ahead, no nonsense approach to both message and performance. Fall Out Boy care about candy. The Xiles care about corruption.<\/p>\n

Which, of course, makes them wise beyond their years. \u201cI\u2019m Fine,\u201d perhaps the most confrontational track here, features multiple spoken-word interludes from singer Zephyr Henderson, who is a star in the making. Part of the secret to being a lead singer is an unabashed willingness to GO FOR IT, and while most kids similar in age might be reluctant to let loose, this guy embraces the spotlight, holding nothing back and gripping your attention with the heat of a thousand suns. By the time the bridge comes and he demands answers for why he got passed up for a job, you almost want to call the prospective employer yourself and make a case for why not hiring him isn\u2019t a great idea.<\/p>\n

The title track validates as much, too, when he asserts, \u201cblood on my hands, blood on my knees\u201d to kick off the second verse. Led forth by Samantha Wallace\u2019s opening bass riff, it\u2019s the best \u2014 and the snarliest \u2014 song here. Repeating the title with vigor and rancor does them favors as well, Henderson jamming the words into the listener\u2019s head without remorse. It amounts to a disregard for rules, let alone authority, and somewhere, you gotta think Joe Strummer is smiling.<\/p>\n

Another grin might come across another face \u2014 Billie Joe Armstrong\u2019s, to be exact \u2014 with \u201cDemocrassy,\u201d a song that ultimately proves the band\u2019s weight in gold \u2026 or, well, leather jackets \u2026 more than any other track here. Yes, it\u2019s a lot of the same gruff vocals and driving tempos, but what sets this particular moment apart is the group\u2019s knack for harmony and melody. The hook here is classic \u201890s grunge\/pop-punk and it begs the question: Whatever happened to this kind of stuff, anyway? It\u2019s one thing to shout and stammer over echoes of electric guitar; it\u2019s another to understand the value of tune. These kids do. And that\u2019s impressive.<\/p>\n

Still, that doesn\u2019t entirely make up for the very inevitability that comes with this genre of music: unapologetic repetition. Nobody\u2019s trying to win musicianship awards in the punk rock world, and while that\u2019s a fine rule of thumb by which to live, it can occasionally make for a boring, if not uninteresting, listen. The notion of \u201cnot doing what I\u2019m told\u201d pops up in multiple songs here \u2014 so much so that you almost want to grab Henderson and tell him, \u201cGood for you. Now what?\u201d Granted, these are kids and this is bonafide street punk, so it\u2019s not like they ought to be expected to wax poetic on foreign policy or the GOP tax plan, but it might be nice to sometimes mix things up a bit, both sonically and lyrically.<\/p>\n

Nothing beats the promise of a record\u2019s beginning, however, and from the minute \u201cWrong Direction\u201d kicks off, all listeners should know what they\u2019re in for. At a crisp 2:21, it\u2019s the most apt way to start the collection, its defiance and pugnacity creating the perfect introduction. And \u201cRoad To Nowhere\u201d even has a little Black Sabbath in it, feeling as much like a retro rocker as it does a call to arms for the disenfranchised. Plus, the way Henderson moves his voice, however slightly, as he enunciates the final phrasing of each hook is the thing that made \u201870s rock as memorable as it was \u2014 for both better and worse.<\/p>\n

Yet at their age, The Xiles probably don\u2019t care much about \u201870s rock \u2026 or more sophisticated lyrical content \u2026 or advanced musical textures \u2026 or, shoot, this review. That\u2019s what makes them a joy to listen to and a band that has so much potential staring them square in the face, daring them to take advantage of it. The fearlessness is there, the energy is intoxicating and the commitment is unquestionable. It\u2019s a recipe for undeniable success.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m pugnacious, never politically correct,\u201d Henderson snarls on the satirical \u201cMad Man Of The Year,\u201d which closes out \u201cNo Comply\u201d in respectable style.<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s what makes you great, man. And even if you have an issue with taking orders, do yourself a favor and follow this one: Don\u2019t you ever forget it.<\/p>\n

** 2 1\/2 STARS OUT OF 4 **<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here\u2019s a hell of a tour: The take-no-prisoners, out-of-flips-to-give aesthetic of Baltimore\u2019s Santa Librada, whose debut LP was featured here only a handful of weeks ago, and Frederick\u2019s own The…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":1230083,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1230082","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1230082","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1230082"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1230082\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1230083"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1230082"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1230082"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1230082"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}